KITCHEN WORKTOP GUIDE

Engineered quartz is our most specified worktop material, and for good reason. It is consistent in colour and pattern, requires no sealing, handles everyday use well, and comes in hundreds of finishes from plain matt whites through to dramatic veined designs that mimic marble at a fraction of the cost and maintenance. Use a board and trivet for anything hot off the hob.

The brands we use, in the order we tend to specify them:

• GQ Quartz by Godiva Granite. Our go-to. Coventry-based, excellent product, reliable service, and well-priced for the quality. The veined ranges are particularly good.
• Fugenstone. Strong range, consistent quality, particularly good on contemporary finishes.
• Unistone. Reliable mid-market option with a solid colour range.
• Bstone. Good value with a broad selection of finishes.
• Silestone. Well-known name, premium pricing. Good product, but you pay for the brand recognition. GQ Quartz achieves a comparable result for less.

Natural stone, with each slab unique. Harder and more heat-resistant than quartz. Needs sealing roughly once a year, but handles day-to-day use well. We supply the Sensa range from Cosentino, which comes pre-treated with a protector that significantly reduces maintenance. If you want real stone without the upkeep of traditional granite, Sensa is a good answer.

Dekton, Laminam, and Neolith are ultra-resistant surfaces that are genuinely impervious to heat and very hard to scratch. We can supply all of them, but we do not tend to recommend sintered stone as a first choice for most kitchens. The reason is impact: a dropped cast iron pan can chip or crack a sintered surface, and the repair options are limited. For clients who cook heavily and want the most durable surface possible, it is worth considering. For most family kitchens, the practical advantages of quartz outweigh the headline durability of sintered stone.

Significantly underrated. Modern laminate worktops are a long way from the plastic-looking surfaces of 20 years ago. Good-quality laminate is a sensible choice for clients working to a tighter budget or prioritising spend elsewhere. Not suitable for wet areas around an undermount sink and will deteriorate if water sits at the edges long-term, but in the right context they perform well and look good.

Beautiful in the right kitchen, particularly as an island worktop set against painted cabinetry. Needs regular oiling and will mark with prolonged water and heat exposure. It works best in lower-traffic positions, such as an island used for prep and dining rather than the main washing-up area. Oak is the most popular species.

The single most-requested worktop finish we see is Calacatta-style white quartz with grey veining. It has been popular for four or five years and is not going anywhere. If you want that look, GQ Quartz delivers it at a more sensible price point than the premium brand names.

Use a trivet. Quartz is heat-resistant to a point, but a pan straight off the hob can leave a mark. The resin binders in engineered quartz are the weak point, not the stone itself. Granite handles heat better if that matters to you.

Square edge or pencil round are the cleanest and most timeless choices. Bullnose and ogee profiles date quickly. If in doubt, go square.

Mixing has become popular, typically a stone worktop on perimeter units and a wood island. Done well it looks considered; done poorly it looks unresolved. We will advise based on your specific kitchen and colour choices.

20mm is standard. 30mm looks more substantial at the edge and suits farmhouse and traditional kitchens particularly well. The cost difference is modest relative to the visual impact, and we like to see the thicker profile in the right kitchen.

If you are putting a hob on top of a built under oven, check the thickness of the worktop is enough so that the top of the oven does not touch the bottom of the hob!